A £500m funding boost for Glasgow has sparked new demands for Wales to receive a fairer cash settlement that reflects the level of need across the nation.

Plaid Cymru argues new UK Government funding for Glasgow will be seen as an attempt to stop Scots backing the independence campaign led by Alex Salmond (above).

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THE UK Government is attempting to “buy votes” ahead of the Scottish independence referendum while under-funding Wales, according to Plaid Cymru’s Treasury spokesman.

David Cameron last week unveiled a £500m funding boost for Glasgow to fund infrastructure and job creation.

Carmarthen East & Dinefwr Plaid MP Jonathan Edwards said Wales could receive £8.5bn less than it was entitled to over the course of this decade due to unfairness in the system used to allocate Treasury cash to the Welsh Government.

The Glasgow City Deal – an agreement between the Treasury and Glasgow City Council – involves the UK Government putting forward £500m of “new funding” while local authorities contribute £130m. Whitehall ministers hope 28,000 new jobs could be created over 20 years, eventually generating annual economic growth of around £1.75bn.

The council is expected to, according to David Cameron and Chief Secretary Danny Alexander, “take active measures to further reduce unemployment and help move people in low-paid jobs into higher-paid ones”.

However, Mr Edwards said: “The announcement by David Cameron on his grovelling anti-independence jolly to Scotland that Glasgow is to get £500m in funding from an England-only pot of money will be interpreted by many as an outright ploy to buy votes ahead of the referendum in September, when Scots will decide if they want to end Tory Westminster rule once and for all...

“Half a billion pounds is an eye-watering sum of money. It is outrageous that the Westminster Government can conjure up the money when Wales is told it cannot have fair funding despite the independent Holtham Commission ruling that Wales is underfunded...

“This is a further kick in the teeth given that Wales is set to lose out on a potential windfall of £2bn because the London Government will not admit HS2 is an England-only rail project. It would be interesting to know if the Welsh Government will now encourage cities in Wales to bid for the funding or whether it will demand a share of the City Deals fund.”

Secretary of State for Wales David Jones said: “The UK Government is committed to strong, sustainable and balanced growth so that businesses and families across Wales will continue to benefit from the economic recovery. Since the 2010 Spending Review we have increased Welsh Government spending by nearly £800m and through the Wales Bill have set out new tax and borrowing powers to enable the Welsh Government to be accountable for more of the money it spends and providing it with further tools to grow the Welsh economy.

“This is in addition to the UK government’s Business Energy Package which will save Welsh businesses up to £230m between 2016-17 and 2018-19 and the £70m that we have invested in Superfast Cymru project to deliver superfast broadband to 96% of homes and businesses in Wales by spring 2016.

“Only a few weeks ago we confirmed a £212m investment in a new prison in Wrexham while work continues to progress on the new nuclear power station at Wylfa Newydd on Anglesey – both projects further underlining the UK Government’s commitment to Wales.

“We know that there is more to do but to abandon our long term plan would be to abandon the progress we’ve made in getting the Welsh economy back on track.”

A spokesman for the Conservative Assembly group said: “The Labour Government is not doing enough to promote economic growth and ministers should be working closely with UK Government colleagues to consider the potential of ‘city deals’ here. In Wales, little progress appears to have been made by Labour on its key ‘city regions’ commitment.”

A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We recognise the important roles cities play in our economy and the benefits of working together. We established two boards in the Cardiff capital region that bring public and private stakeholders together for the good of the whole region.

“Since the creation of these boards they have progressed the city region concept within their areas, focusing on priorities for the region such as identifying transformative projects and working with local authorities, the business community and others on key issues such as planning, connectivity and the maximisation of European funds.”